Adobe InDesign CC 2015 - Manual (Page 632)

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Automation
Last updated 6/6/2015
When you merge data, InDesign creates a new document that replaces the fields with the data you designated in the
data source file. You can place data fields on either a master page or a document page.
Select a data source
Before you insert fields into your target document, select a data source in the Data Merge panel. You can have only one
data source file selected per target document.
1 Create or open the document you’ll be using as the target document.
2 Choose Window > Utilities > Data Merge.
3 Choose Select Data Source from the Data Merge panel menu.
4 To change delimited text options, select Show Import Options.
InDesign automatically detects the type of delimiter and encoding used in the data source file, so showing the
import options usually isn’t necessary. However, you can specify different encoding and delimiter options if you
think they haven’t been correctly identified.
5 Locate the data source file, and click Open.
6 If you selected Show Import Options, change the delimiter and encoding options as necessary, and then click OK.
The data fields appear in the Data Merge panel.
Note: If an alert message indicates that it cannot open the file, or if incorrect fields appear in the list box, you may need to
edit the spreadsheet or database file and save it as a comma-delimited or tab-delimited file.
Once the data source is selected and fields are loaded in the Data Merge panel, any changes made to the data source are
not reflected in the target document until you update the data source.
Insert data fields
When you select the data source, a list of data field names appears in the Data Merge panel. These names are identical
to the column heads from the data source file. Icons indicate whether the field is text or an image. When data fields are
added to your document, they become field placeholders, such as <>. You can select and format these
placeholders as you would any other text or graphic.
You can assign an image field to an existing frame to create a floating image. Or, if the insertion point is in a text frame
or if text is selected when you insert an image field, a small placeholder is inserted as an inline frame. You can resize
the image placeholder to determine the size of the merged images.
Once you insert a data field, InDesign remembers its data source. Any errors in the list of fields, such as typos, empty
fields, and unintended field types, must be corrected in the source application and then updated using the Data Merge
panel.
Insert a text data field in the target document
1 Create a text frame on a document page or master page.
If you’re adding data fields to a master page, see Adding data field placeholders to master pages .